Former Burwood Council general manager Pat Romano jailed

A man whose "insane jealousy" over suspicions that his wife was having an affair has been jailed after he billed his employer $44,000 for the services of private detectives he engaged to catch his wife cheating.

The former general manager of Burwood Council, Pat Romano, 51, was sentenced to a jail term of 20 months without parole over seven criminal charges including misconduct in public office, lying to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, and financial deception charges.

In sentencing Romano, District Court judge David Arnott noted that the former general manager's wrongdoing had involved considerable planning and deliberation and involved "dishonesty and deception".

The judge said that Romano's crime in billing the council for surveillance of his wife and her work colleague was "committed for personal gain" and was not some "spur of the moment decision".

The judge also noted that when the private detectives failed to find any proof of an affair, Romano had the surveillance footage digitally altered so that it appeared his wife was on a park bench with her friend from work as well as in his car.

Romano, who charged the council $650 for the photoshopping, sent the fabricated photo to the man's wife anonymously, suggesting that her husband was a "home wrecker".

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He also made false allegations against the man to his employer but, when his wife informed him the police had been called in, he confessed in order to ward off a police investigation, the court heard.

He subsequently lied about the surveillance during the 2010 ICAC inquiry.

At the time Romano told Fairfax Media: "I don't use council resources to do work on my private properties ... I don't think any general manager would be that stupid that they would do something like that."

He also sent an email to all council staff claiming the Herald's articles were "totally false and unsubstantiated".

However, Romano was sentenced on Friday for both these matters as well as for pocketing $6000 for selling a car owned by the council.

But it was for lying repeatedly to the ICAC that Judge Arnott reserved his most stringent criticism of Romano. He said a jail term was necessary to deter others. Perjury would be met with "severe punishment" as it undermined the administration of justice, said the judge.

The judge was also critical of the Director of Public Prosecutions over the three-year delay between the end of the ICAC investigation and the commencement of negotiations over a possible guilty plea. The delay entitled Romano to a "degree of leniency", said Judge Arnott.